The Insurance and Pensions Commission has challenged Zimbabwe’s insurance industry to rethink its business models and expand beyond traditional markets as part of efforts to raise the country’s low insurance penetration rate and modernise regulatory oversight.
Addressing delegates at the Southern Africa Insurance Indaba, IPEC director of insurance and microinsurance Sibongile Siwela said the industry continues to overlook large segments of the population despite strong potential for growth.
She noted that the penetration rate remains at just 1.06%, far below the regional average of 3%, and argued that insurers must deliberately target communities outside the formal economy if they hope to increase coverage.
Siwela emphasised that the informal sector—estimated to account for 76% of the country’s economic activity—represents the biggest opportunity for expansion.
She said IPEC, with support from the World Bank, has already conducted training for the industry on building insurance products for SMEs, and encouraged players to intensify this work going into 2026.
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She urged insurers to design more accessible products tailored to groups that have historically been excluded from formal insurance services. Many underserved citizens, she said, need solutions that are both relevant and affordable if they are to be meaningfully integrated into the financial system.
As part of its new 2026–2030 strategic direction, IPEC is also reshaping its regulatory approach. Siwela acknowledged that industry feedback has often characterised the Commission as overly punitive, focused mainly on enforcing compliance after violations occur.
She said the regulator intends to adopt a more proactive and collaborative stance that balances oversight with innovation.
According to Siwela, IPEC will gradually move away from rigid, checklist-style supervision and transition toward a broader risk-based framework. This shift, she said, is meant to reduce the adversarial relationship that has sometimes defined regulator–industry interactions and replace it with constructive engagement.
The Commission plans to strengthen its focus on consumer protection, modern regulatory systems, market development and climate-related risks. However, Siwela noted that the sector must also address internal weaknesses, particularly the lack of product diversity.
She said the life assurance segment, for example, remains heavily concentrated on funeral policies, leaving significant room for broader innovation.
Her remarks come at a time when insurers are under pressure to rebuild public trust, adapt to a difficult economic environment, and widen access to products in a market historically dominated by a narrow range of offerings.
IPEC’s new direction aims to support sustainable industry growth while making insurance more accessible and meaningful to the wider population.
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